Ridiculous Quotes 09-10

[Nur Rauch]

Interrupting a judge, especially after a ruling is never a good idea.  If you lost, either sit down or move on.  That person is scoring you.  You risk losing points by interjecting after the judge has made their ruling.

There's a big difference between asking the judge a sincere question and interrupting them. For example, if you're confused when a judge sustains an objection he overruled all the time previously, it shouldn't hurt to ask if you missed some kind of foundation this time around. I think people sometimes forget that real attorneys aren't robots -- if they have a question for the judge, they'll ask it. A calm demeanor and a respectful tone can go a long way. Obviously you don't want to fight everything, but if it's over something really helpful to your case that you can't get out through any other witnesses (like Owens admitting to Finch that he's five million dollars in debt) it might be worth another shot with the judge.

X-Att: Mr. Maxwell, you accepted a plea deal from the State?

Maxwell: Oh yes, I'm a bad person.

 

The best part is that not only is his explanation irrelevant to the answer, but it voluntarily equates negativity with doing the right thing.

[Burning Capitol]

At EKU this past weekend there was a Maxwell that replied to a cross examination question by yelling, "I DID IT! I SHOT HIM!"  There was laughter from people spectating and people had to leave the room.  What exactly happens when one of the states witnesses admits to committing the murder? Is there any kind of rule for this.

If I had to make a rule it would be the person that said this would recieve a zero and a lifetime ban from mock trial

[mockboxoflove]

At EKU this past weekend there was a Maxwell that replied to a cross examination question by yelling, "I DID IT! I SHOT HIM!"  There was laughter from people spectating and people had to leave the room.  What exactly happens when one of the states witnesses admits to committing the murder? Is there any kind of rule for this.

Please tell me this was a by round.  Otherwise, wow.

[calverna]

This past weekend during a prosecution close -- he has 15 seconds left -- and ends with the lines "Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, we have shown you a conspiracy, a confession, and reasonable doubt. Thank you."

Our closer was nice enough not to remark on it during his close. I don't know how we tied.

[Nur Rauch]

So I spend 13 minutes crossing Charney. I sit down, the judge asks if opposing counsel wants any redirect, and Charney, one of their team's captains, is sitting there nodding quite visibly to the attorney. Opposing counsel calmly answers, "No, your honor," and Charney's eyes bulge out of their sockets and give the attorney an angry "WTF!" look.

[nogle]

That's a pretty long cross there Nur Rauch. Hopefully in 13 minutes you covered everything?!

[Nur Rauch]

That's a pretty long cross there Nur Rauch. Hopefully in 13 minutes you covered everything?!

Actually no. The witness said a bunch of stuff during direct and the cross itself that was pretty juicy, I had to stop myself and cut some of the prepared cross short because I didn't realize it was going to take so long. I had some hang-up's, too, which shouldn't have thrown me off but did. Ex: The judge wouldn't let me proceed with my impeachment line of questioning with the Do's and Don't's Article unless I entered the document into evidence.

[nogle]

That's odd, you shouldn't have had to enter the document into evidence. The Charney cx can certainly get long if you don't pick your points carefully. I've found that it becomes too daunting to actually cross the witness on everything and honestly I can't remember it all.

[Nur Rauch]

That's odd, you shouldn't have had to enter the document into evidence. The Charney cx can certainly get long if you don't pick your points carefully. I've found that it becomes too daunting to actually cross the witness on everything and honestly I can't remember it all.

In the beginning of the season I like to write out a cross with as many possible lines of questioning as I can and try them out at the earlier tournaments. As long they're something I could actually see myself asking, I try to run it sometime in Fall just to see how it goes. It's a useful exercise -- it helps you determine what's passable and what's not, or what works with the way a witness is played one way and another.

[nogle]

Yes, I typically do something similar but confine it to scrimmages and then try out different crosses in invitational season.

[-]

Ridiculous quotes thread???

[The Gelf]

At EKU this past weekend there was a Maxwell that replied to a cross examination question by yelling, "I DID IT! I SHOT HIM!"  There was laughter from people spectating and people had to leave the room.  What exactly happens when one of the states witnesses admits to committing the murder? Is there any kind of rule for this.

If I had to make a rule it would be the person that said this would recieve a zero and a lifetime ban from mock trial

I can't imagine AMTA felt the need to make a rule preventing witnesses from making up facts that win the case for the other side.  Wouldn't the after-round team-wide ass-kicking be enough of a deterrent on its own?

[Nur Rauch]

I can't imagine AMTA felt the need to make a rule preventing witnesses from making up facts that win the case for the other side.  Wouldn't the after-round team-wide ass-kicking be enough of a deterrent on its own?

It seems kind of like the 0-6 strategy jokes... As long as both teams are okay with that kind of stuff, you wouldn't think it would hurt to do it. But then you remember that the judges are there because they volunteered to be there, and they probably didn't have this kind of trial in mind.

[mocksluzer]

So I spend 13 minutes crossing Charney.

In the beginning of the season I like to write out a cross with as many possible lines of questioning as I can and try them out at the earlier tournaments.

Nice, see if you can top my 19-minute cross-examination... from Regionals. Our friend, CrossExam should hopefully remember it. I got a three and he a two. Wonderful cross performance by all parties. Left my co-counsel less than two minutes to cross the CSI. He wasn't happy, which was quite legitimate.

[Nur Rauch]

Nice, see if you can top my 19-minute cross-examination... from Regionals. Our friend, CrossExam should hopefully remember it. I got a three and he a two. Wonderful cross performance by all parties. Left my co-counsel less than two minutes to cross the CSI. He wasn't happy, which was quite legitimate.

How did that end up happening?